


Understandings

by Semianonymity



Category: Castlevania (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23502985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Semianonymity/pseuds/Semianonymity
Summary: Trevor had thought he'd understood, what the three of them meant to each other, what they were becoming. Or he'd hoped.
Relationships: Alucard | Adrian Tepes | Arikado Genya/Trevor Belmont/Sypha Belnades
Comments: 13
Kudos: 108
Collections: Sypha & Alucard & Trevor - The True OT3





	Understandings

**Author's Note:**

> I still haven't seen season 3. This was started shortly after season 2 was released, and just finished. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Many, many thanks to Derry Day for her support, advice, and cheerreading! Derry, you are the most wonderful soul, all my love.

They’d had, Trevor had thought, an understanding, about what was going on between the three of them. But they’d been standing on the sodden ashes of Trevor’s childhood home, and he kept on catching Adrien staring blankly at his hands like he could still see the blood on them, and he hadn’t--really thought about it, but Sypha had pointed it out, that Dracula had been his father. And Trevor was a feral animal who did his best to forget the little of his childhood he’d had, but he--could try to understand that.

So they’d waited. And left, the three of them, out on new adventures: someone needed to protect the scattered, desperate, starving people from the chaos that Dracula’s war and then death had caused, and it certainly wasn’t going to be the Church. The Church was just one more thing people needed to be protected from.

Trevor had thought about rebuilding his family’s castle and keep, and it had almost made him physically sick, left him shaking with the need to get stone-blind drunk.

But he’d thought they’d had--an understanding.

Lingering glances, and a softness to Alucard’s eyes. A considering spark in Sypha’s eyes, watching him, and--he was a rough man, but it made him want to preen, a bit. Just for the novelty of being watched by someone who not only wanted him, but wanted to keep him.

Two someones, and hadn’t _that_ been a thought. It had--he couldn’t have pictured taking Sypha away from Alucard, or tearing Alucard away from Sypha, but he’d--it had _felt_ like he fit, the way he almost never did. Thinking about having people he could trust to watch his back, that--it was enough to make him weep, sometimes, when he thought about it too long. But trust was different from love or lust, and he was worse with people than a fucking _vampire_. He knew it, he knew they knew it--but he’d thought they’d figured out something. Something where--he could throw an arm around Alucard’s shoulders (when he was sitting, the tall bastard) and feel him relax, just a little, instead of going taut. Something where he could brush the soft strands of Sypha’s hair out of her face, let his eyes linger just a little too long on _both_ of them, apart or when they passed something between them and their hands caught together, both holding on like they couldn’t bear to let go--

They’d found an inn, for once. There was relatively little evidence of marauding demons in the area. He’d caught Alucard watching him and smiling, and when he’d realized that Trevor was watching him back, his smile had gone even sweeter. It was neutral ground, no one’s dead parents any more present than they always were, their varied ghosts quiet; no one was trying to kill them, dinner had been good, and he’d _bathed_ after Sypha had clucked at him, because, because--

He’d thought.

But now he was sitting in one of the two rooms they’d been given for the night, hair wet and unpleasantly chilly as it dripped down his back, and Sypha and Alucard were next door and he felt--stupid, he knew he was stupid compared to them but not like--

It made perfect sense, the way the two of them fit together. And it’d take someone a little bit feral to even think about inserting himself into that, and to not--pick up on the subtleties that Trevor was so bad at. He’d figured out--through trial and error--who would yell at him to move on in the town square, but let him sleep in their barn overnight, warm and dry as he ever was. He’d figured out what smile meant that someone would slip him food or fuck him, quick and dirty. He’d figured _that_ out. But the nicest thing he was ever given was a bargain in the marketplace from some farmer remembering a son they’d lost. That was about the limits of his positive social interaction.

So _of course_ he’d--misinterpreted. What did he know about having friends, or--or even, if he was lucky, some kind of family. Maybe he could still be some kind of family to the two of them, Sypha and Alucard. But he hadn’t been a part of the lingering touches that _meant_ something, and affection was _normal_ when you’d almost died, over and over, with each other, when--you trusted someone. He hadn’t had that before, not ever, really, and he’d just misinterpreted.

Worst-case scenario, they were hoping he’d wander off at some point.

That thought burned enough to make him bite, hard, at his tongue, like someone walking over his grave, rubbing a hand up a cat’s spine the wrong way to make the fur stand up. Like someone had gutted him and left him to live like that, hollowed-out and wrong.

When had he stopped expecting to die alone?

And why had he been stupid enough to start expecting anything else.

He was only half-dressed, and he should probably--get on with it, he thought, vaguely. He might as well put on clean clothes--Sypha had insisted he get a second set, and Alucard had pushed him away from the laundry and done it “right,” by his standards, until Trevor was irritated enough to tackle him trying to get the shirt back, so he _had_ clean clothes--and he grabbed a towel and scrubbed roughly at his hair.

And if he happened to wipe away a few tears, too, well, he’d always known he was a fool.

“Where _is_ Trevor?” Sypha’s voice demanded from next door, and Trevor jolted in surprise.

\--Maybe they were concerned that he’d walk in on them.

He’d been bad at picking up any cues, after all, too eager to read into anything as potentially including _him_.

The thought of telling them, straight and even, that he knew better now, that he wouldn’t push himself into their relationship, whatever form it was taking around them--just the thought of it made him want to be sick, and made him want to run straight for the nearest tavern.

\--There was someone outside the door. He might be embarrassingly emotional, but he’d survived as a drunken Belmont for years, and if he could pick out an actual devil-fucking witch out of a crowded market or get himself away from a murderous crowd and a too-eager priest while he was still vomiting hung-over, he could pick up on the way the light creeping under the door had changed, someone standing silently outside it.

Half-dressed or not, Trevor kept Vampire Killer with him, and his fingers moved unhesitatingly to worn blessed leather as the door swung open, creaking on its hinges, he hadn’t heard any _steps_ in the hallway and--

Alucard.

Of _course_ he moved as silently as a stalking monster. Trevor sighed loudly and let his hand fall away from his weapon, let himself thump back into the dusty sheep-scented mattress. “I’m going to take one of your pretty eyes out one day,” Trevor said, dismissively, purposefully keeping his eyes trained on the ceiling. Then winced, belatedly, at calling any part of the other man pretty, even if it was true.

“You can try, certainly,” Alucard said, but it felt--rote, automatic, and not comfortably so, the way their conversations sometimes were.

“Why did you push your way in here anyway? I could have been getting myself off, for all you know--or I could have been in here with that one girl from down in the bar, she had an interested look about her! And then you’d upset _her_ , and I know you wouldn’t care about whether or not _my_ balls were about to burst from frustration, but I’d have to explain that, oh, this is my-- _the bastard I travel with_ , he got a free show because he doesn’t _knock_ and then has the fucking gall to correct my manners--”

“Trevor,” Alucard said, quietly, and Trevor fell silent, embarrassingly.

No one said anything, and the silence grew increasingly terrible, until Trevor could feel the mounting pressure change to a threatening prickle in his eyes. He wasn’t going to _cry_ in front of Alucard, not about--anything, but never about _this_ , would it be worse if he mocked him or not…? He let his arm fall over his eyes, let himself pretend that any wetness was lingering from his bath.

“If you’re expecting company,” Alucard started, stiffly, and Trevor wanted to yell at him for that--why did it _matter_ who he bedded, to Alucard--

“No,” he said, instead of trying to keep up a charade; he’d rarely fucked, wary of the danger and the vulnerability of sex, the fact that he wasn’t much of a prize, often too drunk to get hard, and then there was the time he’d almost fucked a liderc, and had to burn the sex demon while it wore the shape of his sister. Maybe if it wasn’t Alucard, he would have kept up the rakish attitude; maybe if he’d been a little less raw or a little more shocked. But it _was_ Alucard, and every inch of his heart hurt like it had been swallowed alive, and he couldn’t even say it was particularly unexpected. “But I _could_ have been, is the point.”

“Pathetic,” Alucard said, briskly, and normally--he’d have laughed it off, because that was what he _did_ with Alucard, but right now--oh, it hurt.

He was, after all. Pining away like a love-lorn maiden because he’d let his damnfool heart convince him that he’d get the chance to have Alucard and Sypha both. Maybe if he’d been raised by people instead of left feral he’d know better.

“I see you bathed,” Alucard said finally, when Trevor failed to respond.

Trevor gave him the finger, still staring pointedly at the ceiling. Then yelped, as Alucard leaned over him--suddenly across the room--to stare at him with suspiciously narrowed golden eyes. He slapped at Alucard reflexively--trying not to think about what it meant, that when _this_ man, more potentially dangerous than Trevor himself, caught him by surprise his reaction, his _instinctive_ reaction, was so harmless, that he trusted him so much--and then growled and tugged when Alucard caught his hand.

It bothered him, a bit, how much he liked the way that Alucard’s grip was implacable and as unyielding as lukewarm granite for a brief moment, before he relented and let Trevor pull away. There wasn’t much that left Trevor feeling fragile, at least physically, and almost nothing that left him feeling _safe_. Alucard and Sypha both were more than a little terrifying, and he loved it, he really did.

They could absolutely never know that, but. He hadn’t really been expecting that much. Except, maybe, he’d let himself hope for too much.

“Are you sulking because Sypha made you _bathe_?” Alucard asked finally, horrified.

That stung enough that Trevor sat up to stare right back at him. “I am not sulking!” he said, quite reasonably, he thought.

“You’re sulking,” Sypha said flatly from the doorway, and Trevor just caught a glimpse of one fair brow raised in cool contempt as he yelped and threw himself off the edge of the bed. “Trevor!”

“I--what is _with_ you two?! I could have been--”

“Fucking someone, you already said,” Alucard said, shortly, and just as unimpressed as Sypha had been.

“Not very likely,” Sypha said, wrinkling her nose.

“I could have been naked--more naked! You _told_ me to bathe, Sypha, God above knows why--”

“Because you stink! Less than you did, maybe, but I’m not putting up with that again, you smelled like a still set up in a pigpen--”

“Why do you _care_ what I smell like?” Trevor asked, aiming for humorous, the easy banter that they’d fallen into, unnaturally easy considering their differences, considering that Trevor was a feral wreck of a man--and he knew he’d missed the mark even before he finished the sentence, the words falling out too-sincere and too-tender into the sudden silence.

The floor was splintery and dirty, dust clinging to his still-damp skin, but Trevor ignored it, rolling over to hide his face against the floorboards. He felt the nape of his neck prickle, skin crawling because he _knew_ they were watching him, staring at his exposed back, and--he knew they wouldn’t hurt him, but they _had._ He’d thought they’d--all understood.

Stupid, stupid Trevor Belmont; he’d known it when he’d signed on to kill Dracula, and he’d survived that, but it hadn’t made the whole thing any less stupid. It had just been a fluke.

“Well,” Sypha said, voice tight and superior and-- _upset_ , and he didn’t know why. “If you _were_ hoping for someone to lay with, a bath certainly doesn’t hurt. No woman wants a dirty goat.”

“Dirty _goat?_ Surely I’m a, a wolf or a--”

“Goat,” Sypha said promptly.

“And now you’ve got mud on your face, Belmont,” Alucard cut in. He was right, too, Trevor knew, from the grittiness where his forehead rested against the ground. At the ends of his hair, too.

“It’ll crumble off when it dries,” Trevor said.

“You tell all the women that?” Sypha asked, supremely unimpressed.

“I’ll have you know I haven’t had _any_ problems finding a woman for a quick fuck,” Trevor snapped, rolling up again, glaring equally up at the two of them from the floor; it was uncomfortably vulnerable, except that--it would only have been unbearable if it was anyone else, or if Alucard and Sypha hadn’t been there. But he was _safe_ with the two of them. Because of everything, despite everything.

“But that woman downstairs who kept on pushing her bosom against you isn’t up here,” Sypha said. “Despite your--charms.”

“I _told_ you she was interested!” Trevor declared, swinging to point a declarative finger at Alucard despite himself. “ _You_ were doubtful, but even Sypha thought she was flirting--”

“Fine! _I_ can’t see her here, but if you’re so sure that she’s going to appear, you can wait and I’ll just--” Sypha trailed off, gesturing, then just growled, apparently overcome.

“Fine!”

“ _Fine!_ I’ll just--entertain _myself_ , then, if you’re so certain you don’t want my company or Alucard’s--” She was blushing hotly, furious and embarrassed and eyes just a little bit wet. Alucard, in contrast, was as still as a corpse, as stone-faced as he’d been when they’d found him.

But Trevor knew him better, now, and he could see the faint tension in his hands, his shoulders, the set of his mouth; why did he look like _that_ , when he and Sypha were going to, presumably, fuck, maybe for the first time--he’d assumed so, but what did he know?

“Oh, that’s rich! I was just--I wasn’t going to--I wasn’t going to _interrupt_ you, damn it, I just--if you need me to _say it_ , fuck you! I’m not going to beg for access to your bed and I’m not going to interrupt you when you set up for a cozy night with Alucard and--”

“No, you’ll just wait for a _better offer_ from some--some stranger, even though--”

“Sypha,” Alucard said suddenly, eyes gone wide and startled.

“There’s no stranger,” Trevor said, tongue numb. “There’s not--I’m not leaving a trail of Belmont bastards behind me, and--fuck it, I never had much of an interest before, and I’m not throwing myself at the local slut just because I finally--I was wrong, I get it now, you never wanted-- _I_ don’t want to be in anyone’s bed when I’m not wanted, I know you think I’ll fling myself at anyone or anything, or hell, I’m not so much of an animal that I’d _force_ you--”

“Trevor,” Sypha said suddenly, voice confused, somehow twisted in on itself.

“I’m not going to interrupt you, tonight or otherwise! I’ll keep to myself whether or not I’ve got a roll in the hay lined up or not. Just don’t--rub it in.”

That confession hurt, enough to make him blink a little too hard, twice, teeth gritting together. Unable to bear it anymore, he rolled upright, let himself lean up against the wall, arms crossing, less defiant, more a hunkered, terrified dog.

“Trevor,” and _Alucard_ was the one to say it.

“What?” Trevor demanded, thickly, trying not to snarl too badly. It _hurt_ , to hear his name echoed like that--Sypha and Alucard, bright gold beacons in the dim of the room, both so _familiar_ when they said his name.

He--really had thought. He’d thought he’d understood.

He’d been alone for such a long time.

“You _idiot_ ,” Sypha said, voice painfully affectionate and--no. He wasn’t hearing her right. No affection, no sweetness. He was an idiot, that at least was true. She walked towards him, swift, arms reaching out--

Trevor flinched away, the way he tried not to, around anyone, but maybe especially them.

Sypha drew up short, brow furrowed. A little further away, by the bed, Alucard made a strangely aborted move, and then froze, too-still again except for the soft sway of his curls of hair around him. It really didn’t look anything like natural, and, distantly, Trevor wondered if everyone around them was just too unobservant to recognize it for what it was, or--more likely--if Alucard was smart enough to keep himself from doing it around--anyone who didn’t know what he was. So, anyone other than the two of them.

Alucard stepped closer, and Trevor briefly considered throwing himself out of the window. It was a better chance than trying to get away from Sypha and Alucard by going through them.

Sypha stepped in even closer, he felt like a hunted animal, and then closer, until he could feel her warmth along his front, reaching up one delicate (--not delicate, no matter what Sypha and Alucard looked like, he knew how fragile they weren’t) hand to rest against his neck, trying to pull him down, closer to her.

He couldn’t make himself move, frozen as a statue. Not understanding.

She moved her hand from his unmoving neck, the muscle unyielding as iron with stress, and down to his hands, easier for her to reach. Her fingers tried to soothe the strain out of tensed muscle, drawing his hand up to her, and she leaned down to kiss his palm, one sweet, hot breath against his skin--

Trevor made a noise like he’d been sucker-punched. He couldn’t make himself look away from Sypha, but he could see Alucard moving in the edge of his vision.

“Sypha,” Alucard said, his tone bafflingly gentle.

“You heard him, Alucard,” she said, raising her head just enough that her words weren’t muffled into Trevor’s palm, not so far that he couldn’t feel her lips brush against the calloused skin. He was trembling, very faintly.

Trevor opened his mouth to try and say something, but couldn’t think of anything to say, couldn’t make himself say _heard me say what_. Didn’t know how to respond to this.

Carefully, Alucard drew closer, Sypha straightening, pulling just slightly away, although her hand remained curled around his. Alucard stepped in, smoothly replacing her, just as achingly gentle. His hand took Trevor’s wrist as Sypha’s hand fell away; the grip was loose. He could tear himself away, if he could make himself move--

Alucard hesitated, a strange sort of vulnerability flashing across his face lightning-fast, before he leaned in and, carefully, pressed his lips to the corner of Trevor’s mouth, strange and sweet, before pulling away, looking at him solemnly through curls of golden hair--

“What?” Trevor managed to say, his voice thin and shaky.

It was like watching a door slam shut in Alucard’s face, as he let go smoothly and stepped away. “I see,” he said, somewhat resigned. “I understand.”

“I don’t--” Trevor’s voice broke, and he swallowed, tried again. “I don’t fucking understand! It’s--you two--the three of us--I thought--”

“How could you think I didn’t want you, Trevor?” Sypha asked, like it hurt to contemplate. Trevor’s eyes flickered, somewhat wildly, to Alucard’s face. It was cold and remote. “How could you think _we_ didn’t want you with us?”

“But--” and Trevor bit shut on the word that wanted to follow, the damning _why_ that wanted to escape. _But why me?_

“I’ll just,” Alucard said tightly, and gestured to the door. “Sypha,” he added, flatly, as she made a noise of protest.

“Don’t,” Trevor managed to say, feeling the weight of centuries of ancestry, that he couldn’t get out such a simple sentence, that he was trying to say it to a half-vampire, to the son of Dracula himself. But it wasn’t what Alucard was, that was the problem. Just his own damnable cowardice. “Don’t go.”

If Alucard could, then--

Trevor pulled himself off the wall, and over to Alucard, and stretched up to press a kiss to his lips, too hard and then too soft, awkward and uncomfortable. He hadn’t had many opportunities for kissing. He pulled away too quickly, hoping that Alucard couldn’t hear how fast his heart was beating, and--

“All three of us?” Trevor asked, too intense no matter how much he tried to be flippant, casual..

“I thought you knew,” Sypha said, and she was trying to sound brisk, business-like, but there was guilt in there, more of that tenderness, almost worse than the guilt.

“I thought I did too,” Trevor said. “Then I thought I didn’t.” “Stupid,” Sypha said, but she walked towards him as she said it, took one of his hands in both of hers. “Let me kiss you, Trevor.”

“Of course,” Trevor said, but it took another second to stoop, until Sypha could reach his mouth with hers and--

“Oh,” she said, just a soft sigh into his lips, and Trevor felt the sudden humiliating burn of tears.

He didn’t get--this. Trevor Belmont didn’t get people who acted like they’d stay with him, didn’t get people that made him feel safe. His nerves felt raw, like someone had flayed him open.

“How could you think we didn’t love you?” Sypha asked.

There wasn’t any good response to that. Trevor shrugged, expressively. Tried not to feel too exposed. Tried not to be too obvious as he turned to look at Alucard.

When Alucard pulled them both into an embrace, it was a little too fast, and Trevor had to hold himself still, but--it was _Alucard_ , and Sypha a line of heat along his side, and Trevor couldn’t think of two people who’d have an easier time killing him, or anyone at all he’d allow this close.

He let himself sag, just a little bit, relaxing some of his weight onto Sypha and Alucard, letting them carry him. Then just a little bit more, letting them support him, buoy him up.

“You two didn’t kiss,” he added, a little muffled, a moment later, itchy in the face of the warm, humid intimacy of the three of them huddled together.

“I’ll let you watch if you’re good,” Sypha said, and Trevor had to laugh. Alucard was probably rolling his eyes--or giving the impression that he’d be rolling his eyes if he wasn’t too dignified for it--but one hand was delicately brushing dust off of Trevor’s bare shoulder.

Trevor couldn’t help the way he relaxed into the gesture, like a dog being pet, unexpected kindness after too long without it. He felt like he’d been hollowed out, or maybe like an infected wound lanced clean, like the rot inside of him had been cleaned out. Like he was better than he’d thought, because otherwise he wouldn’t be here, in-between the two best people he knew.

Carefully, he tucked a loose strand of Sypha’s hair behind her ear, unable to stop his smile when she caught his hand and kissed the heel of his palm again, careful with him the way no one ever was. Part of him wanted to bristle; most of him was pathetically grateful. He felt like he’d fall apart if it wasn’t for her arms and Alucard’s holding him together.

Alucard bent his head and then hesitated, tips of his fangs just visible, like a distracted cat--despite himself, despite everything, Trevor couldn’t find it anything but endearing. He turned his head to Alucard like a sunflower following the light, and let his eyes slip closed as Alucard’s cool lips kissed the outside corner of his eye.

When he opened his eyes again, Alucard lifting away, there were tears glittering in Alucard’s eyes, and Trevor lifted his hands to cup Alucard’s face, as gently as he could. He was not a gentle man, and Alucard wasn’t fragile, but-- Trevor let his thumbs brush tears off of pale cheeks, as carefully as he could, his hands cupping Alucard’s fine-boned face.

Alucard’s smile was faint, but true. Trevor couldn’t help but smile back, open his mouth to say _something--_

In the hallway, steps Trevor had been half-aware-of, stopped outside the door. He could feel himself stiffen, see Alucard go stiff and still as a hunting snake, Sypha taking her cues from the two of them and--

The door swung open to reveal the barmaid who’d been flirting with him earlier, dress tugged even lower down her cleavage, seductive smile disappearing into horrified confusion.

Trevor took quick stock: he was half-naked, sandwiched between a fully-dressed Sypha and Alucard, _intimately_ close.

The woman made a noise like a trodden-on frog, and slammed the door shut before walking at an almost-run away from the door.

Sypha took a careful breath, and then another--

“I _told_ you she was flirting with me!” Trevor hissed, vindicated, and Sypha collapsed into laughter, leaning against Trevor’s chest as she shook with humor and the lingering anxiety of everything that had happened.

Alucard was a frozen statue, blushing red, not dark but obvious against the paleness of his skin.

Trevor took a good look at him and it was his turn to start laughing, snickers turning into a belly-laugh as Alucard hissed and shoved Trevor onto the bed with inhuman strength.

“Hey!”

Sypha, still laughing, threw herself down overtop him, Trevor wheezing as she landed on him, and that--that was enough to make Alucard start laughing, startlingly gorgeous and still blushing, and--

“Fine, sure, _laugh_ at me,” Trevor grumbled, but he couldn’t hide his smile when Alucard sat down, pulling himself into the tangle with feline grace.

The three of them.

-End-

**Author's Note:**

> I might write the smut in a sequel/second chapter, but I thought this was complete the way things are. Thank you for reading!


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